CHICAGO — America plunged into a deeper state of disruption and paralysis on Friday as New York and Illinois announced a broad series of measures aimed at keeping tens of millions of residents cloistered in their homes, following similar actions by California and a patchwork of restrictions from coast to coast.

The new, more stringent directives, in some of the country’s most populous states, were intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus that has swept across the country, sickening more than 17,000 people and claiming at least 214 lives. By the end of the weekend, at least 1 in 5 Americans will be under orders to stay home, and more states were expected to follow suit.

Increasingly severe shutdowns and restrictions on Americans’ movement — which public experts consider essential to reduce the alarming rate of infection — have turned much of the country quiet. Forty-five states have closed all their schools and the other five have closed at least some of them. Bars, restaurants and other gathering spots have been abruptly shuttered.

New York State has become the center of the outbreak, as its confirmed coronavirus cases have jumped to more than 7,000 and health officials have flagged with urgency a looming shortage of hospital beds and equipment. With 6 percent of the U.S. population, the state now accounts for over one-third of all confirmed cases in the country.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York on Friday announced what he called “the most drastic action we can take,” essentially ordering the nation’s largest city and the rest of his state into a protective crouch: All nonessential businesses were ordered closed by 8 p.m. on Sunday, setting up a stark new reality for some 19 million residents, who were told to stay home as the state went “on pause.”

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‘Everything Is Uncharted’: New Yorkers Confront Life Amid a Coronavirus Shutdown

With restrictions tightened on businesses and daily activity, residents are grappling with uncertainty about resources, health care and their paychecks.

“We’re going to put out an executive order today. New York State on pause — only essential businesses will be functioning. 100% of the workforce must stay home. This is the most drastic action we can take.” “Everything is uncharted territory. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in the news any minute.” “I think I’ve been asking a lot of how we could have prevented this.” “Am I going to see another depression like my grandfather saw in the 1920s?” “Over the past few days, New York City has taken a lot of important measures. I’m just worried it came a little bit too late.” “I think I’m scared of having to see more death and from reading stories from abroad, having to make decisions about resources. And I’m worried people in my life are going to die from it. A few days ago, I had to watch a patient basically slowly die. I just felt helpless. This is the first time I’ve really seen people that I truly don’t know how to help. And they are coming in so sick that everything I’m used to doing to be able to treat them, I can’t really do.” “How was your day off, Mich?” “It was emotional, to say the least.” “Why?” “It’s just, like, the hospital has been insane. And every hour, like, things are changing. So it’s just, like, trying to keep up with that while trying to read about what I should be treating these people with, while people are rolling in the worst — I don’t know. They say in 18 days it’s supposed to get really bad. I guarantee you tomorrow we’re going to have like 1,000 more. The numbers are going to go up.” “That’s no problem at all. Thank you very much. That’s very nice. Thank you. Sounds good. See you then. Bye. Well, I have been working. A lot of people are not, which is hard. This place used to have 30 employees, and on Sunday we let go of 90% of the staff. We want to reopen so we can rehire people, you know? It was really hard to let everyone go. These are people that are at the level, they’re not wealthy, you know? This is a very harsh reality. And actually what the job is, is smiling through stress. And this is hard to smile through.” [Rain falling] “It’s go time here at the community kitchen. This is the time where we have to ramp up our services to be very sensitive to how people are feeling. People are coming to us feeling vulnerable. They maybe work in the restaurant industry. People who work in Broadway and in a lot of the behind-the-scenes, they’re coming here saying, well, I don’t have work. So those industries are the folks that are the first ones that we’re seeing come through. But we’re preparing to see more people come through in need.” “All programming at the senior center is suspended for the next two weeks. Stay safe and have a good day.” “So this is not business as usual. We don’t know what’s coming up if people have to stay in their homes for a longer period of time. And we want to make sure people are getting food, especially since a lot of industries are out of work. We are expecting a lot of new people, and we are going to be ready to receive them. This is all very new for them, and some of them are feeling guilt or shame coming to an emergency food program. So we have to remember that we do this all the time, but for them, it’s something new and something that they feel anxious about doing. We’re just getting them registered. They’re getting food. That’s our main priority is people are getting food.” [Sighing with exasperation] “I’m not supposed to touch my face. Hold on a second.” “I have prepared myself already, mentally, multiple times, to go back to Oregon and leave this entire beautiful dream behind me. So many people, including many of my friends, are working at bars, at restaurants, which are now closed. And now we’re all at home, wondering, Can we make it another month? Can our families afford to pay their mortgages at home? Do we just need to go back and start working, just so we can help our own families, the people that we love the most, stay in the homes that we grew up in? It’s hard to think that my mom or my dad are never going to see retirement. The best things that we can do right now as a community is just to give ourselves over to something that brings us true happiness. Because right now, it feels like it’s about to get very desperate.” “This is only something that we can get through if we’re working together. There will be so much suffering, unnecessary suffering, if we’re not really looking out for each other and if we only think about ourselves and our well-being. We have to be thinking about each other.” [Birds chirping]

With restrictions tightened on businesses and daily activity, residents are grappling with uncertainty about resources, health care and their paychecks.CreditCredit...Yousur Al-Hlou/The New York Times

New York officials have issued a lengthy list of businesses and services that would be allowed to stay open, including nuts-and-bolts governmental duties like code enforcement to more practical concerns like automotive repair, child care and computer support.

Basic functions like grocery shopping, walking the dog and getting medicine or exercise were still to be permitted, but little else in the way of normal life. “We need everyone to be safe,” Mr. Cuomo said, acknowledging the severe economic and psychological impact of such an order. “Otherwise no one can be safe.”

New York City’s public transit system would continue to run, but the city it travels through was profoundly transformed from its usually bustling, never-sleep energy: Its restaurants and bars were closed; its schools, museums and theaters dark; and its gaudy central mall — Times Square — quieter than it has been in decades.

Hours after the New York announcement, Illinois followed. Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an order for the state’s more than 12 million residents to stay home, beginning Saturday at 5 p.m. “For the vast majority of you already taking precautions, your lives will not change very much,” Mr. Pritzker said.

The actions taken by the governors are the most robust and far-reaching yet, grinding major cities across the country to a standstill.

President Trump said the United States had reached agreements with Mexico and Canada to in effect close the borders to slow the spread of the virus, and would halt all nonessential travel across those borders beginning at midnight on Saturday. Wall Street suffered another grim day on Friday with the S&P 500 falling more than 4 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 913 points, closing below where it stood before Mr. Trump was inaugurated.

On Capitol Hill, senators worked until late Friday on the framework of a $1 trillion economic stabilization package that is expected to include expanded unemployment benefits for workers affected by the virus. The talks broke off about 10:45 p.m. without any agreement, although Democratic and Republican negotiators said they had made significant progress on a number of issues and would continue to work through the weekend.

The coronavirus pandemic has sickened more than 254,500 people in at least 154 countries. As of Friday afternoon, at least 10,472 people have died, more than half of them outside mainland China.

“Home isolation is not my preferred choice,” said Mr. Newsom, pleading with Californians to comply in order to save lives.

A large number of state workers — firefighters, police officers, prison guards — have been deemed essential and are exempted from the stay-at-home order, Mr. Newsom said. But his office is still assessing and negotiating with union officials to determine how many nonessential state employees will be allowed to work remotely.

States have continued to grapple with differing strategies to contain the virus. Washington State, which has been at the forefront of the outbreak, introduced some of the strongest restrictions earlier this month but has yet to adopt formal stay-at-home orders for the whole state. Gov. Jay Inslee said his office was continuing to evaluate that option but he cited potential economic impacts as a factor in the decision.

He criticized those who may still be leaving their homes for social reasons and issued his own command: “Stay home unless it’s necessary to go out.”

The stricter requirements were coupled with an unusual loosening of other rules around the nation. Chicago has already stopped issuing parking tickets and collecting fines. The federal government postponed a deadline for filing tax returns to July 15 from April 15. Mr. Trump on Friday said federal student loan payments would be paused for at least 60 days. The governor of Nebraska ordered a 30-day extension of the deadline to renew driver’s licenses.

Americans, barely adapting to their new lives under the coronavirus outbreak, struggled to understand what the shelter-in-place orders would mean in practical terms, and which businesses would be allowed to remain open.

Mr. Cuomo’s action on Friday on restricting nonessential personnel came days after the governor had also ordered state and local governments to let at least 50 percent of their workers stay home. And while exactly who was considered essential was left up to local leaders and heads of state agencies, officials say many local governments were only requiring law enforcement, public safety and public works employees to report to work as usual.

“These provisions will be enforced,” Mr. Cuomo said at a briefing in Albany. “These are not helpful hints.”

Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

Updated June 5, 2020

How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

How do we start exercising again without hurting ourselves after months of lockdown?

Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

How can I protect myself while flying?

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

Should I wear a mask?

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

What should I do if I feel sick?

If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

But many of the decisions for what is and is not essential will be open to interpretation, and across California, cities were struggling on Friday to determine what had primacy: the statewide order or the ones issued by counties and cities.

In the Bay Area, the first region to get a shelter-in-place order, cities have spent the past week wrestling with the question of what can remain open, and the bureaucracy — or lack of it — for deciding borderline cases.

Grocery stores and pharmacies are obviously essential, but what about bike repair shops, which many people need for transportation, or cannabis dispensaries, whose goods many consider medicine? In Alameda County, which surrounds Oakland, cities have asked the county health department for guidance, which in turn told cities that the decision is left to individual businesses. Thus, some establishments are closing, others are not, and cities — which are already overloaded with issues of public health and safety — are left to decide how to enforce rules that are mostly unclear.

In Los Angeles, an order signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti was explicit in which businesses can remain open, and included cannabis dispensaries, news media outlets, bicycle and auto repair shops, funeral homes and some farmers’ markets. Gun shops, which have seen a surge in business as the pandemic has spread, will close under the order.

On Friday, Californians kept some semblance of normal routines. In Los Angeles, residents were allowed to walk their dogs or go for a hike in the many canyons and hills around the city. And office workers were allowed to go to their offices on Friday and collect their belongings so they can begin working from home. But in a sprawling city where navigating traffic is a daily headache, for days the city has felt empty, its famous freeways uncluttered, with drivers able to get almost anywhere in less than a half-hour.

Officials said they did not expect to be heavy-handed on enforcement. In Los Angeles, the police can enforce the order by issuing misdemeanor tickets, but the authorities say they are counting on residents to abide by the rules out of social pressure. Mr. Garcetti said any residents who see someone violating the order should take it upon themselves to ask the offender to comply, although he added he is not looking for “tattletales around the city.”

“It’s a very light touch,” he said. “This is on 10 million people to self-enforce.”

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A surfer stretches in the open space of the beach before heading to the ocean in Venice, Calif., where there were few people among the nearby, closed boardwalk stores.Credit...Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times

Elsewhere in the United States, shelter-at-home rules were not so strict, but they were becoming more so every day — and many businesses and residents were choosing, by choice or by edict, to close up or stay home and take steps to avoid exposure among people.

In Hawaii, Gov. David Ige has issued sweeping directives to close bars and clubs, limit social gatherings to groups of 10, restrict restaurants to takeout service and other measures. He also “strongly encouraged” tourists to postpone vacations for 30 days, and mandated the screening of all passengers getting off cruise ships beginning on Friday.

On Friday afternoon, Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans issued a “stay home mandate” for her city. “The more people who stay home the more lives that we will save,” she said.

In sparsely populated South Dakota, 14 cases of coronavirus had been discovered as of Friday, with one death attributed to the coronavirus. Schools have been closed, people are working from home and everyone was being encouraged to practice social distancing. But the state government was not forcing new rules on anyone.

In Rapid City, a city of about 75,000 people, some restaurants remained open as usual on Friday, but others, like the Independent Ale House, had chosen to move to a takeout-only model of their own volition.

But there were tensions. Other places remained open, perhaps driven by a streak of American individualism that makes some bristle at the idea of going with the herd. “We’re still very frontier-oriented you know,” said Justin Henrichsen, the ale house owner. “You know, ‘You ain’t going to tell me what to do.’”